Original subtitles

Jeremy mcdermott: Right from the beginning

His alias was "the ghost."

Because he always was going to try and live in the shadows.

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He's directly linked to some of the most violent

"visible" narcos in colombian history.

Including pablo escobar's successor, don berna.

The ghost is an extraordinarily powerful individual.

One of the most prolific and powerful

Drug traffickers in colombia.

Then he disappears.

In 2008, poof, he's gone.

I'm out to track him down, find him.

I'm not going to let these (bleep) intimidate me,

Particularly not this one.

Confront him and expose him.

Mcdermott: This is not good.

Don't stop here, don't stop here.

(siren)

Mcdermott: I've been an investigative journalist

For the last 25 years.

I'm a former british army officer

Who made the leap to war correspondent.

Started in bosnia, moved to the middle east,

And I came to colombia in 1997.

(gunfire)

This was when the civil conflict was at its worst.

Left-wing guerillas seeking to overthrow the government,

And then pitted against them were right-wing paramilitaries,

But they've all been fed by drug trafficking.

Cocaine has been the fuel on the fire.

But from 2004 to 2006 there's a turning point in the conflict.

In a place known as ralito

In the north of the country in córdoba department.

The right-wing paramilitary army of the auc,

The most powerful drug trafficking organization

In the world, sits down to negotiate with the government.

Ralito is the largest gathering of narcos in history.

(man speaking spanish)

A who's who of the most powerful and violent drug barons

In colombia.

Mancuso.

Carlos castaño.

Pablo sevillano.

Macaco.

Don berna.

And with these kingpins, a mysterious figure.

He never appeared in public at ralito.

Deliberately stayed away from the cameras.

But he did sign a key auc document

Entitled united for peace.

So we got mancuso, we've got don berna, we've got macaco,

We know all of these names, until we get to here.

Sebastián colmenares.

Who is he and why is he in such distinguished criminal company?

Sebastián colmenares was, according to this document,

One of the most important paramilitary commanders

There were.

An extraordinarily powerful individual.

A person who we believe is responsible for smuggling

Tons of drugs to the mainland united states.

And then he disappears.

In 2008, poof, he's gone.

What I want to know is where did he go?

What's he doing now?

Where is sebastián colmenares today?

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The paramilitaries all signed their documents with aliases.

So, we assumed that sebastián colmenares

Was an alias.

I run the name past my underworld sources.

But I drew a blank.

Then, there's a breakthrough.

We get word from a high-ranking ex-narco

That sebastián colmenares also went by another alias.

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Mcdermott: Memo is will in spanish,

And fantasma is a ghost,

So the literal translation of memo fantasma

Is he's will the ghost.

And this alias has been whispered

Through the medellín underworld for years.

John barry: I was meeting with an informant in mexico,

And that name memo fantasma came up.

The name has always stuck with me,

Because who could forget a name like memo fantasma?

Mcdermott: Memo fantasma is clearly well-known

In the criminal world.

But when I begin to question colombian police sources,

We hit a brick wall.

Some just say, "never heard of him."

Which can't be possible.

Others say, "ask me something else, jerry. Don't go there."

We get nothing, nothing, not a whisper from the police sources,

And this is an alarm bell.

How is it possible that a name that has widespread recognition

In the underworld is completely unknown to the police?

The most obvious and alarming explanation

Is they know who memo fantasma is and he is being protected.

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Then we get a contact from inside the us government

Who's prepared to go on the record.

(phone ringing)

Hi there, peter, how are you?

Peter vincent: Hello, jeremy.

Mcdermott: Peter vincent was a senior figure

In the us embassy in bogotá from 2006 to 2009.

I'm just gonna jump straight into it.

Tell me, have you ever heard of the name memo fantasma

And in what context?

Vincent: I started to hear rumors and whispers

About memo fantasma, the so called "narco ghost,"

In bogotá, colombia, from 2006 until 2009.

And this mysterious character was very much involved

In both narco trafficking and paramilitary activity.

Even prior to the paramilitaries,

He was actually an associate of pablo escobar.

Ended up making off with a large load

Of high quality cocaine

That he stole from escobar

And ended up setting up his own operation.

Mcdermott: Do you know who he was working with

In the paramilitaries?

Vincent: It was always my opinion that memo fantasma

Was actually a leader of the central bolívar bloques.

Mcdermott: Ah.

Vincent: Which, as you well know, was responsible

For the slaughter of anywhere from 10,000 to 15,000 people.

It was engaging in massive amounts of narco trafficking

And frankly, crimes against humanity and genocide.

Mcdermott: So, for you there's no doubt that memo fantasma

Was playing in the big leagues?

Vincent: There is no doubt whatsoever that memo fantasma

Was not only playing in the big leagues,

But he was actually directing quite a bit of this.

We knew he was involved,

And then he disappeared, like a ghost.

And we lost track of him.

Mcdermott: Peter vincent puts him

Right at the top of the big leagues.

He's a top drug trafficker

Who is an integral part of the paramilitary army.

Great, thank you very much.

Vincent: Bye-bye.

Mcdermott: We're on the right track, and he's a big player,

And if we can expose him, it's a potential game changer.

(soldiers chanting)

Mcdermott: According to peter vincent,

Memo fantasma was part of the central bolívar bloc, or bcb.

(soldier yelling)

One of the most powerful paramilitary units in the auc,

Headed by the notorious warlord known as macaco.

Macaco inspired fear.

And a source tells me that sebastián colmenares,

Aka memo fantasma, was in business with macaco,

Alias javier montañez.

Mcdermott: It's a eureka moment.

Memo fantasma was macaco's business partner.

All of our sources said macaco

Was muscle and territory,

Memo was money and drug trafficking.

Macaco was visible, memo is invisible.

They are partners, but the aim is the same:

To build bcb into a powerful drug trafficking organization.

By the early 2000s they've got significant territorial control

Across many different parts of the country,

All important for drug trafficking.

And they are moving tens of tons of cocaine

And generating tens of millions of dollars.

At the height of bcb's power,

Sebastián colmenares, aka memo fantasma,

Is one of the most prolific

And powerful drug traffickers in colombia.

Fast forward to 2006.

At ralito, don berna and the paramilitary leaders

Decide to take a deal offered by the government.

To avoid extradition,

They consent to eight years of soft detention in colombia,

And agree to leave their criminal pasts behind them.

Sebastián colmenares has a choice.

He could take the golden parachute,

But memo fantasma it seems has other ideas.

He's going to leave sebastián colmenares

And consign him to history.

Memo fantasma wants to continue in the drug trade.

He quits the peace process and vanishes.

(sirens)

Three years later, that proves to be a very smart choice.

In 2008, don berna,

Along with macaco,

Mancuso,

And the paramilitary high command

Were all expelled from the peace and justice system.

They were extradited to the united states.

They all get long sentences in maximum security prisons.

Don berna gets 30 years.

But his invisible associate, memo fantasma,

Escapes this fate.

He's never extradited.

Never arrested.

Never even charged with a crime.

But he's made one mistake.

When memo fantasma signed that document

As sebastián colmenares,

He very briefly became visible,

And I think he's going to regret that.

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So, now we've got confirmation

That sebastián colmenares is memo fantasma,

Is a key part of the auc, the paramilitary army,

We just need his real name.

For us the obvious place to start digging

Is in the peace and justice files.

They contain the proceeds of the entire paramilitary history,

Including the ralito gathering,

Thousands of hours of testimony from members of the auc.

Hasta luego.

We pick up the first solid evidence of memo fantasma

In a taped interview in which a peace and justice prosecutor

Is questioning a former bcb member, alias nico.

Nico is clearly under pressure from bcb leaders.

Mcdermott: It was clear that the top level of the bcb

Were trying to hide memo fantasma

And sebastián colmenares.

Mcdermott: We had no more luck than the prosecutor.

We couldn't find any guillermo camacho either.

Then we find alias pablo sevillano's file.

He's a top drug trafficker

Who is an integral part of the paramilitary army.

And as it happens, his first name is guillermo,

Or memo for short.

He's directly asked, "are you memo fantasma?"

Pablo sevillano responds saying, "I am not memo fantasma.

Memo fantasma is guillermo acevedo."

This is it, this is a legal document

Naming memo fantasma as guillermo acevedo.

But is sevillano telling the truth?

Is guillermo acevedo memo's real name

Or is it just another alias?

And if it is real, can we find an id number and a photograph?

So, we go to bogotá's chamber of commerce.

It's 900...

And we get a hit.

Guillermo acevedo has a company, acem,

But what we're really looking for

Is the id card of all of the shareholders.

We get to guillermo acevedo.

We've got his name in full,

We've got where the id was issued,

And we've got his id card number.

But the photo is black,

And I don't believe that was a coincidence.

Mcdermott: Our ideal scenario

Is to find a series of properties and companies

Linked to guillermo acevedo, to memo.

So, we can say, look, this guy is worth

Hundreds of millions of dollars, how can he possibly justify it?

We find 12 companies that we can link to guillermo acevedo.

But one stands out.

Between 2006 and 2008, guillermo acevedo was involved

In a property development project

In an exclusive part of bogotá

With a company called hitos urbanos.

Hitos urbanos is owned by the vice president of colombia,

Marta lucia ramirez, and her husband, alvaro rincon.

The land was subsequently used

To construct the high-rise building "torres 85."

Very significant property development in bogotá.

Clearly guillermo acevedo has been involved

In large property deals

With members of colombian high society.

We don't know where he is, or what he looks like.

But we have a lot more information now,

So I hit up my contacts one more time.

We get a photo from a source, it's very bad quality.

It's the copy of a photocopy

Of a black and white passport photo.

There he is, ghost no more.

Our quarry now had a face.

But it's of such bad quality that we can't blow it up,

And it's just not enough to go to sources

And say, "is this memo fantasma?"

Then we get an extraordinary tip.

Holy! That's him!

In a freak chance, memo fantasma appears,

Unknowingly, in a hidden camera show.

(speaking spanish)

And sure enough, there he was.

So, we had two photos from two different sources

And clear enough for us to take to our sources and say,

"is this guillermo acevedo, memo fantasma?"

This initially proves extremely difficult.

Memo fantasma really scares people,

And none of my underworld sources

Initially are prepared to go on the record.

(man speaking spanish)

But we find carlos mateus, alias paquita.

He's a commander in bloque central bolívar.

Mcdermott: A key drug trafficking source

Who had a foot in both the medellín underworld

And the paramilitary army.

One of macaco's trusted lieutenants.

Mcdermott: We had a face of memo fantasma.

It's a crucial breaking point for the whole story.

Mcdermott: What's great about paquita's story

Is that initially he didn't know who memo was.

He sees a helicopter land

For a summit of top paramilitary commanders,

And he sees memo step off the helicopter

And go and greet the top commanders as an equal,

Indeed some of them deferred to him.

Paquita says, "who is that guy?"

And one of his superiors says, "that's memo fantasma."

Mcdermott: And macaco told him, memo has left me just the bones.

Memo's got all the meat and all the good stuff

And macaco's been left with the remains.

Macaco's turned himself in as part of the peace process,

Memo's still on the outside,

He's making the money, he's still got the power.

Mcdermott: Also willing to go on the record

Is former colombian prosecutor cruz elena aguilar.

Mcdermott: Cruz elena aguilar is eminently qualified

To identify memo fantasma.

She mixed with medellín's top narcos

In the search bloc during the hunt for pablo escobar.

Mcdermott: The fact that she and alias paquita

Can clearly identify memo fantasma

Is our proof that sebastián colmenares,

Memo fantasma, and guillermo acevedo

Are one and the same.

It's a done deal for us.

Now we just have to find him.

But from 2014 to 2015, he drops off the radar.

So, we went back to our sources, who said...

He's left the country.

He's moved to Spain.

Okay.

Mcdermott: I want confirmation, photographic, that he's there.

I want confirmation of his residence,

I want confirmation of his offices.

Gracias.

If we can get all that evidence in hand,

Then it'll be time for me to go to madrid.

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This, we're hoping, is gonna be the closing chapter

In the hunt for our invisible memo fantasma.

According to the contacts here, he is in madrid right now.

We found a company that he'd set up in madrid.

Millions of euros.

I really feel we're in the final stretch,

And a guy who has been invisible now for well over a decade,

Maybe, just maybe we're gonna shine the light on him.

We're about to meet our contact.

He's been scooping up information on memo fantasma

And his movements.

We're hoping that he's got the information we need

To plan our next steps.

Mcdermott: That is definitely memo.

A little bit older.

But it's him.

So now I'm just gonna find these addresses on the map,

So we can plan our attack.

We'll hit the lawyers first,

Right here in the center of town.

Then we've got a house,

But this is on the outskirts of town towards the airport.

Hopefully we'll get a message to him and maybe even see him.

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So, the first stop is the lawyers.

We want to make sure that this letter gets into his hands,

As this going to be the first official notice

Of his right to reply to our accusations.

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What's gonna be interesting now

Is the response from the lawyers.

I've left my phone number at the bottom of all the letters.

If he wants to reach me, he will certainly know how to do it.

Mcdermott: Jeremy mcdermott.

Mcdermott: So, we need to drop an envelope at his house.

This makes me a little bit nervous.

What am I gonna do if he's there,

And how am I gonna play that?

I've got some fairly serious people on speed dial

In case things begin to go sideways.

Mcdermott: So, we're on the outskirts of madrid,

Absolutely lovely neighborhood, these are closed neighborhoods,

For people who clearly like their privacy.

After the scene in the lawyer's office

Where things got extremely hostile,

I feel that we need to hit the house very quickly now,

So that there's no time for any kind of preparation.

He's certainly no stranger to violence.

Is he gonna try and close off the investigation

Through very abrupt and brutal means?

Here we go, we are approaching the main gate

Of the closed neighborhood.

This is not good.

Don't stop here, don't stop here.

What I am hoping is that he realizes

That we're pretty serious.

(speaks spanish)

We've got some fairly alarming accusations,

And it might be time for him to engage with us.

I'm not gonna let these (bleep) intimidate me,

Particularly not this one.

(phone ringing)

Mcdermott: So, he doesn't wanna talk.

The channels are open if he decides to contact me.

My feeling is that we've taken him rather by shock now.

He's received a phone call from his lawyers,

And now we've turned up at his gate,

So, I suspect he's now thinking very hard

About how to play things.

When I see people like memo fantasma

Living the high life in madrid,

It leaves me with a deep sense of frustration.

The only way memo has been able to stay off the radar,

For me, has been because he has managed to corrupt,

At very high levels, state institutions.

If memo fantasma got a pass

From any international law enforcement agencies,

It will be because he gave them valuable information.

So valuable that they were prepared

To let him off the hook.

A couple of underworld sources have suggested

That memo handed over enough information

For them to convict macaco without any questions.

Mcdermott: In July 2019, macaco was returned to colombia

After 11 years incarceration in the united states.

He now faces up to 40 years in prison in colombia,

While memo lives it up in madrid.

Mcdermott: This from a security point of view is perhaps

The most dangerous and delicate time.

He now knows who I am.

He now knows that we have a very strong story against him.

This leaves him very few options,

One of the options might be violence.

And so, yeah, this is definitely a worry.

(phone ringing)

Hello?

Mcdermott: He seems very keen to engage.

Mcdermott: And I'm not surprised.

This is the guy that I think we're dealing with.

Highly intelligent, extremely reasonable.

He was extremely polite.

Mcdermott: He denies categorically

That he is memo fantasma

And that he is alias sebastián colmenares.

Mcdermott: He's extremely alarmed by the allegations

That I laid out in the lawyer's office,

And he believes he can refute them all.

Mcdermott: His next line of defense

Was he has no charges pending or arrest warrants pending.

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♪ ♪

Mcdermott: Perhaps a surprising line of defense

Was that he doesn't have any money.

Mcdermott: He admitted to involvement

In the enormous development in bogotá

Known as torre 85, tower 85.

The other parties in that deal are not exactly nobodies.

The colombian vice president and her husband.

Mcdermott: He has promised to send me an email

So that he can refute, one by one,

The accusations we are placing against him.

The first email is incredibly polite.

He thanks me for my time and kindness.

He says he wants to clarify any misunderstandings

And is willing to assist me in any way possible.

I respond by telling him what our accusations are,

Including that he informed on macaco,

And was present for the torture and murder of an associate.

Acevedo directly denies these accusations,

Calling them "vile" and "a great big lie."

He says my sources are maliciously trying

To ruin his reputation,

And that he's never been involved in a crime of any kind.

He says he wants to meet in person,

But never follows through, just keeps stalling

Until he refuses to speak except through his lawyers.

♪ ♪

Memo fantasma, for me,

Is an example of a successful invisible.

The key to invisibility is corruption.

You've got to prevent being identified by police,

Prosecutors, judicial system.

The best way to do that

Is to have these bodies on the payroll.

♪ ♪

The likelihood is...

Memo is protected by someone

In government, in the police or in the security forces.

Ruben oliva: What happens occasionally

In some of these cases is that somebody is able to cooperate

To a degree that the government decides to give them a pass.

Now, I've had clients that I've been able to do that for them,

But it's, it's, it is rare.

What I think what distinguishes memo

From some of these other guys

That I, for example, have represented,

Is that I don't think he missed a step.

Memo fantasma, in my view, will never be brought to justice.

And certainly I have no faith

That the colombian law enforcement authorities

Are going to do anything against him.

I think they are already bought and paid for.

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Mcdermott: Our ideal scenario is to prompt us authorities

To have a look at a person who we believe is responsible

For smuggling tons of drugs to the mainland united states.

In colombia, the blood and suffering

Caused by the cocaine trade over the last 40-odd years

Is, it's impossible to describe.

It's left scars on this country and its society

That have still not even come close to healing.

We have to learn from these mistakes.

We have to contain the violence and suffering.

Memo fantasma should be in prison.

He should be in prison for a long time.

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Captioned by side door media services